Posts in Editor's Picks
Engaging Back to School Art Ideas for Teachers to Build Student Relationships

The first few weeks of school can be a whirlwind of activity. You’re busy setting up procedures, going over class rules and expectations, and getting to know your students. One tried and true activity that we have had a lot of success with is what we call the Name Plate. Below are step by step directions on how you can make one amazing activity that will brighten up your classroom with color, and make your class a place that every student feels welcome and connected. 

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The Ultimate Printable Camping Checklist to Make Life Easier

Preparing for a camping trip is no easy feat. It takes a lot of prep work to make sure that once at the lake, stress is at a minimum. There is nothing less relaxing and less fun than having to get into the car and drive off in search of whatever it may be that is needed when you are hours away from home. I am a huge fan of checklists and pretty much use them for everything. Over the years I have created my go-to camping checklist to make sure that all my gear and camping needs are packed and ready to go. When your life is organized, things go so much more smoothly and your time can be spent enjoying your friends and family. There may be no wi-fi in the mountains, but you’ll find no better connection.

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Resources to Support Antiracism in the Classroom

2020 will definitely be a year to remember, not only for the Coronavirus pandemic causing mass shut downs and shelter in place orders that have swept the world, but also for the vast inequalities it has helped to shed light on. A disproportionate amount of Black Americans have died from COVID-19 than whites or other ethnic groups. Black Americans represent 13.4% of the US population, but over 60% of the deaths from the virus. How is this even possible? After all, “The virus knows no race or nationality; it can’t peek at your driver’s license or census form to check whether you are black. Society checks for it, and provides the discrimination on the virus’s behalf. The effects of that discrimination are found in the morgues.”

Disparities could be due to inequalities in access to health care. However, a much more likely reason is the systematic, structural, and institutionalized racism that has plagued this country for the past 400 years. To exacerbate these glaring inequalities is the continued news cycle of Black people dying at the hands of police and white supremacists. And now, months later, an uprising has begun.

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